Wrestling: Are Body Slams Allowed? | The Effect of Viewership on Pro Wrestling
When talking about Wrestling, most people would always talk about body slams. I also remember how my friends enjoyed talking about it and how cool it was. Body slams are very flashy, and people who watch Wrestling enjoy seeing these moves. But are these moves allowed in Wrestling? Let’s find out.
Body slams aren’t allowed in Wrestling because they can cause severe harm to the wrestlers. However, due to its popularity with the viewers, some scripted wrestling matches allow this move provided that the user knows how to make such move without causing injury to others.
This blog post will talk about body slams and how the movement became something people want to see. While it is illegal in most grappling sports, we would see how Wrestling reacted to this and made it one of their signature moves.
Are Body Slams Allowed in Wrestling?
Let’s start with the Greco-Roman, also known as Classic American English wrestling.
In Greco-Roman and Freestyle, it is not illegal to lift your opponent and then return him to the mat before your own body hits the floor.
However, slams are illegal in all styles of Wrestling. Slams have always been forbidden.
Moreover, there is a pretty big gray area of whether it’s a slam or not, especially if not blatantly obvious.
Slamming can cause an injury or even paralyze a wrestler. That is why it is generally frowned upon and is forbidden.
However, rules vary occasionally as some rule set explicitly allows body slams.
As we know, a memorable and famous moment in world wrestling showed was when Hulk Hogan’s body got slammed by Andre, the Giant.
It was the most talked-about moment at the time, and it kick-started Hulkamania.
Being a wrestler comes with consequences as any other profession in this world.
For a wrestler, the results of that move can be extremely dangerous.
However, there are times when the urge to entertaining people and the dream of fame leads you to accept the matches that include a specifically designed set of rules consisting of legal and even some illegal movements.
It is mandatory to know the consequences and how to prevent them.
Most grappling competitions ban slamming from the guard. Still, there are exceptions.
The dangers of body-slamming extend from back pain to loss of breath.
The management has designed several rules as humans are naturally attracted to the things that are forbidden.
Audiences are fascinated by the idea of watching a game without edict and witnessing something illegal globally.
Thus they designed a platform every season which entertains the viewers and makes loads of money.
Wrestlers who do not get paid for the time they get treated for their injuries. Hence, participating in something as an enthusiast and as expensive becomes an offer.
I believe that this is also one of the reasons why Wrestling started to become fake. To prevent injuries while getting more viewers, they began to stage the matches from the dialogues to the moves. That’s why you’re going to see these moves in the ring. It seems like the wrestlers aren’t hurt.
For more information regarding how Wrestling became illegal, please check my other blog post, which you’ll find here: How did Wrestling become fake?
Most of the wrestlers cannot decline the moment they’re getting good pay for a match. Even the dangers of this match can lead them to a lifetime disability or even worse.
Lex Luger, for instance, was a strong man in the then-WWF in the 1990s. One of the famous wrestlers, Yokozuna, got slammed by Luger on July 4th.
In formerly played matches addition of a few illegal slams make it worth watching.
People spend hundreds of dollars to witness body slams for some specific tournament.
The ambiance of the arena consists of such energy that is rare to find in a legal match that is neither fixed nor bewildering.
For the audience, it is an ordeal and an endeavor, one where danger is ever-present.
And that is when the wrestler decides to steal the show with one of the most hyped-up vicious movement in Wrestling and picks and throw his competitor setting up his submission with a body slam that draws a gasp from the crowd.
The fascination of enjoying felonious movements in Wrestling does not end at body slam.
Illegal motions are used and enjoyed by wrestlers around the globe.
Amateur Wrestling is a position ally-based form of grappling. Few moves are illegal, such as biting other wrestlers or poking them with fingers. Furthermore, any violent attack on the eyes is strictly prohibited.
During the match, a move that costs the opponent’s life or could cause injury is forbidden.
Wrestling is an energetic sport involving various grappling-type techniques such as joint locks, etc. The sport should be genuinely competitive or sportive amusement.
Can you Slam in Wrestling?
You can’t slam in actual Wrestling because it is a dangerous move. However, staged or scripted Wrestling can allow these moves because they attract more viewers, but the wrestler who would make such move needs to practice how to do it properly without causing harm or injury to others.
WWE has for quite a while exposed its grapplers to an outrageously dangerous move that they knew or ought to have known.
These moves can cause long-haul and irreversible actual harm, including cerebrum harm.
There is a genuine risk about proficient Wrestling, actually like any battle sport.
This is the thing that makes it so exciting to watch. Without a doubt, those in the ring may realize who will win. However, that doesn’t remove the danger factor.
One wrong action or one confounded kick can prompt wrecking results, and as the game develops, so play out the moves without anyone else.
What moves are illegal in Wrestling?
Moves such as Chokeholds, some Headlock, Figure Four, Standing Reverse-Waist Hold, Full Nelson, Bridge Position, and Reverse Leg Rides are illegal. Furthermore, Greco-Roman wrestling doesn’t allow any move that grasps enemies below the hips.
Another illegal move that looks enticing is the chokehold.
Chokeholds are sanctioned in sport sambo but are allowed in combat sambo. This move can take over someone or even paralyze them.
A famous wrestler, Gabriel Diniz, once lost the feel of his arms and legs when he got slammed on his neck. Fortunately, he regained some movement and feeling.
These events have not been any exemplar for the wrestlers or the viewers as it has just made them crave some more entertainment of this sort.
Annually, the exhilaration for these movements has bulged up and has become the most demanded kind of Wrestling from the spectators.
There are wrestling matches that are scripted but follow a very strict set of rules like Amateur wrestling.
This means it is illegal to hit your opponent with your hands, elbows, knees, and head.
Any headlocks that put weight on the rival’s spinal segment are unlawful.
If the hostile grappler who applies the unlawful hold harms their opponent, they will get taken out from the competition.
Unsportsmanlike behavior directed towards other wrestlers, their mentor, or any of the authorities is debilitating.
In the meantime, a few games incorporate such developments that are pretty much as ruthless as their names states like Figure Four, Standing Reverse-Waist Hold, Full Nelson: The full nelson, where two hands are under the shoulders and on the head.
The extension position is the point at which your rival is in a scaffold position. It is debilitating to lift other wrestlers and toss them down onto the mat. Lower leg caught to outside: It is illicit to drive the lower leg outside the knee joint in standard Terre position.
Nonetheless, the dread of seeing episodes and mishaps brought about by utilizing these stunts hasn’t debilitated the supporters and spectators, if anything, has helped up their energy considerably more.
Different moves like Double leg snare to forestall toss. Snaring your legs around your rival’s is hazardous, however not unlawful.
Invert leg ride (East German leg ride): This leg ride traps both the adversary’s upper and lower leg and comes down on the knee joint. It is considered risky and consequently unlawful.
As everything has turned into a wellspring of diversion, Wrestling has also updated its legal and illegal developments guidelines.
Subsequently, not many of these moves, regardless of being purposely awful, are valued and are commended by the spectators and the grapplers carry varieties to work on their courageous finishers.
Large numbers of these moves are utilized as finishers by numerous contenders as the image of their force and extraordinary style.
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